Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James became the fifth player in NBA history to score 32,000 career points. The four-time MVP did it Tuesday night against the Indiana Pacers, also becoming the youngest player ever to hit that milestone.
People congratulated LeBron for his achievement, including the league's all-time leading scorer, former Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BthlNzeHmKE/?utm_source=ig_embed
Greatness recognizes greatness.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished his 20-year NBA career with 38,387 points, a record that a lot of people believe can be eclipsed by James. The three-time NBA champion signed a four-year deal with the Lakers this summer, and if LeBron can continue to play at a high level for the duration of this contract, there's a strong chance that he'll be the NBA's all-time scoring leader. Let's take a look at what he needs to do to accomplish that.
Right now, LeBron is fifth on the all-time scoring list with 32,008 points. He needs 285 points to surpass Michael Jordan for the fourth spot. Then things will be a steep climb from there.
As of this moment, he needs 1,636 points to beat Kobe (33,643) for the third spot, 4,921 points to beat Karl Malone (36,928), and 6,380 points to take Jabbar's spot at the top. If LeBron actually played every game from now through the rest of his Lakers contract, he would have to average a little over 23 points per game to pass Kareem.
Can LeBron James make that jump up to the top of the list? Yes, but we've also seen him miss a significant amount of time due to injury, and he'll certainly miss more games here and there as he continues to age. If his body mostly cooperates over the next three and a half years, though, Kareem will have to give way to the new scoring leader of the NBA.
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